Mary Baker Engen Restoration Hangar

Restoration and preservation of our collection is conducted in the Mary Baker Engen Restoration Hangar. The facility is spacious enough to accommodate several aircraft at one time, giving our restoration specialists the room and equipment required to reconstruct, repair, and preserve artifacts. The Restoration Hangar also houses numerous support shops where Museum staff complete the many highly specialized functions necessary to preserve the collection. From a glassed-in mezzanine, you can view restoration projects in progress.

What is being restored?

Many significant artifacts in the collection are in the queue for restoration. The first artifact to be restored in the Mary Baker Engen Restoration Hangar was the Curtiss SB2C-5 Helldiver, the type of aircraft former Museum director Don Engen flew in World War II. The Helldiver is on display in the Boeing Aviation Hangar.

The next major aircraft project will be the Martin B-26B-25-MA Marauder Flak-Bait. This medium bomber flew over 200 missions during World War II, the most for any American aircraft. Flak-Bait's nose section has been on display in the World War II gallery on the Mall since 1976 with the rest of the artifact being in storage at the Paul Garber Facility. At the Udvar-Hazy Center, the Museum plans to preserve Flak-Bait to retain its original condition, reassemble the entire aircraft, and place it on display in the Boeing Aviation Hangar.